Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Frankly, I wouldn't blame Ted Lilly if hew wasn't ecstatic about his trade from the Cubs to the Titanic, with the dark cloud of the McCourt divorce continuing to get gloomier each day. But according to the Canadian Press (no link), Lilly, who was drafted by the Dodgers at the beginning of his career, is pretty psyched to be here:

SAN FRANCISCO--Ted Lilly was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1996 and envisioned pitching for the big league club.

The left-hander is finally getting his chance--14 years later. [...]

``Really cool,'' Lilly said before the Dodgers faced the San Francisco Giants on Sunday night. ``I'm clearly excited. They've been playing good baseball (here). Not scoring a lot of runs, but hopefully that will change and we'll find ways to win games.'' [...]

Lilly went 3-8 with a 3.69 earned-run average with the Cubs and hasn't won since June 13. He pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings against Houston on Tuesday and has allowed four earned runs over his last 16 innings.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who also managed Lilly with the New York Yankees, isn't worried about his numbers.

``The first time I saw him, we played at Shea Stadium and he was 2-0 and 3-1 on everybody and nobody could get a hit,'' Torre said. ``That showed me something about the late movement on his pitches. Then I watched him really shut us down throwing no harder than 85, 86. What he has inside him is one of his real pluses. He competes.''

Lilly acknowledged it was difficult leaving Chicago. He agreed to a $40 million, four-year deal with the Cubs in late 2006 and had hoped to lead them into the playoffs.

Instead he's back in Los Angeles trying to get the Dodgers there.

``It's always shocking, even though I kind of was aware something would be happening before the deadline,'' Lilly said. ``I was really lucky to play in the city of Chicago and I had a great experience there. On the same token I consider myself pretty fortunate to come back and play for the Dodgers.''

Lilly was a fresh-faced 20-year-old when he was selected in the 23rd round and signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in 1996. He hoped and expected to make it to the majors, and believed he'd be wearing Los Angeles' uniform when he did.

Two years later, he was traded to Montreal.

``That was really tough,'' Lilly said. ``I was a youngster and I was devastated to be traded from the Dodgers. My dreams since I signed was to come up and pitch for the Dodgers. It took me 14 years but I'm getting my chance. It's an opportunity to get into the post-season and hopefully win a World Series. The Cubs weren't going in that direction this year and I'm fortunate to have a chance to do that over here.''

If he comes to this sinking ship with that kind of positive attitude, then I'm already on board the Lilly bandwagon. Bring us some wins, Ted!

Well, getting rid of Blake Dewitt and two minor leaguers is a great start to a better year next year. Now at least we have Ted Lilly in our rotation. Oh wait. Nice trade Ned! Anyone else you want to rent before the seasons over?